PAVES crossing zones was a collaborative project between the artists Anne Bean, who initiated it, Sinead O'Donnell, Poshya Kakl, Efi Ben-David and Vlasta Delimar, which aimed to reflect on how "intense, wider political context inevitably sculpts work". [1] The project aimed to use dialogue & debate to develop trust and understanding between communities, whilst enriching the cultural landscape of Europe and its surrounding nations.
Anne Bean is a London-based artist who works in installation, large-scale sculpture, sound art, and performance art. She was born in Livingstone in Northern Rhodesia. Her work is managed by Artsadmin. She lives in Limehouse in the East End of London.
Sinéad O’Donnell is an Irish artist. She currently lives and works in Belfast and travels extensively with her work.
The process began with the artists spending a week in residency in Toynbee studios in March 2009, making and sharing work together. Following this, they simultaneously made a durational work in their own countries (England, Ireland, Croatia, Israel, Kurdistan-Iraq), keeping an awareness of shared consciousness. In Anne's words "Frontiers, borders, demarcations, boundaries, barriers, bureaucracy, officialdom, laws, regulations and rules all became irrelevant to the fact that we were making a collaborative piece". [2]
The artists then spent a week in each other's countries, developing work together for the duration of a year; this process driven approach is typical of both Anne Bean and the other artists involved whom stem from visual and performance art backgrounds. Unfortunately due to visa restrictions Poshya Kakl was unable to travel and contributed from Erbil, Kurdistan-Iraq (where she is based), thus the artists are yet to meet and work with all members physically present.
Performance art is a performance presented to an audience within a fine art context, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated, spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or via media; the performer can be present or absent. It can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer's body, or presence in a medium, and a relationship between performer and audience. Performance art can happen anywhere, in any type of venue or setting and for any length of time. The actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time constitute the work.
Erbil, also spelled Arbil, locally called Hewlêr by the Kurds, is the capital city of Kurdistan and the most populated city in the Kurdish inhabited areas of Iraq. It is located approximately in the center of Iraqi Kurdistan region and north of Iraq. It has about 850,000 inhabitants, and Erbil governorate has a permanent population of 2,009,367 as of 2015.
Poshya's inability to travel had a profound effect on the project's development and artists' relationships, resulting in the 'Crossing Zones' interface. This interface used digital technologies such as video phone projections during live performances.
In August 2010, Anne Bean and Sinead O'Donnell were interviewed by Helen Kaplinsky for Resonance FM about the process and politics that informed the project. [3]
Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and over 300 volunteer technical and production staff.
